Tesla Rival Lucid Group's Debut Vehicle Named MotorTrend Car Of The Year

Lucid Group, Inc.'s LCID Air is making waves within weeks of the commencement of the first deliveries of the luxury sedan.

What Happened: The Lucid Air has won the 2022 MotorTrend Car of the year, the company announced Monday.

The company noted that this is the first instance of a debut product from a new automotive brand winning the prestigious "Golden Calipers."

The luxury sedan emerged the winner from a fray of 24 competitors, including the Daimler AG DDAIF-owned Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Mercedes-Benz EQS, Volkswagen AG VWAGY subsidiary Porsche's Taycan and Honda Motor Co., Ltd.'s HMC Civic.

"The win affirms Lucid Air as the new EV benchmark, with the most advanced electric powertrain available today—technology wholly designed, developed, and manufactured in-house," Lucid said in a statement.

Six key criteria were used to evaluate the vehicles: efficiency, value, advancement in design, engineering excellence, safety, and performance of the intended function.

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Why It's Important: The Lucid Air Dream edition has a 113 kilowatt-hour battery, giving it a 520-mile EPA range, the company had said in September. This compares to the 415-mile for Tesla, Inc.'s TSLA Model S.

"With the longest driving range of any electric vehicle on the market, an EPA estimated 520 miles, and over 1,100 horsepower available, the Lucid Air is a technological tour de force," said MotorTrend Group Head of Editorial, Ed Loh.

Due to miniaturization of Lucid's in-house developed EV powertrain and battery pack, the car has a large and luxurious interior cabin within a beautiful, streamlined exterior design along with a relatively compact footprint.

At last check, Lucid shares were up 1.41% at $44.55.

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